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The present invention relates to systems and methods for controlling brain tissue temperature, and in particular to systems and methods for subcranial temperature control of brain tissue through the use of contact cooling devices.
Researchers and physicians have long recognized the consequences of reduction of body temperature in mammals, including induction of stupor, tissue damage, and death. Application of freezing and near freezing temperatures to selected tissue is commonly employed to preserve tissue and cell (e.g. sperm banks); and application of extreme cold (far below freezing) is effective for tissue ablation. However, localized cooling (not freezing) of tissue has generally been limited to the placement of an xe2x80x9cice-packxe2x80x9d or a xe2x80x9ccold compressxe2x80x9d on injured or inflamed tissue to reduce swelling and the pain associated therewith. Localized cooling of internal organs, such as the brain, has remained in large part unexplored.
For example, xe2x80x9cbrain coolingxe2x80x9d has been induced by cooling the blood supply to the brain for certain therapies. However, as the effects of the cool blood cannot be easily localized, there is a systemic temperature reduction throughout the body that can lead to cardiac arrhythmia, immune suppression and coagulopathies.
Attempts have been made to localize cooling of the brain with wholly external devices, such as cooling helmets or neck collars. However, there are disadvantages associated with external cooling to affect internal tissue. For example, external methods do not provide adequate resolution for selective tissue cooling, and some of the same disadvantages that are associated with systemic cooling can occur when using external cooling devices.
It is therefore desirable to obtain improved devices and methods that allow for localized brain cooling without the disadvantages of the known systemic and external devices and techniques.
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of known systemic and external devices and techniques by providing localized brain cooling with a device placed through the skull.
The present invention provides a device and method for localized temperature control of a body part, such as the brain. In an exemplary embodiment, a device for thermally affecting tissue of a patient includes a housing defining an interior volume that is at least partially insertable into an exterior opening in a patient, such as a burr hole though the skull. A thermal member positioned within the interior volume of the housing includes a thermal input side and a thermal output side to impart a thermal change to the tissue. An exemplary method of treatment using the device includes the steps of exposing tissue to be thermally affected; attaching a thermal device to an anchor point of the body; positioning the thermal member near or on the tissue; and operating the thermal member to thermally change the temperature of the tissue.